The present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for embedding data in a file and, more particularly, but not exclusively to a method and an apparatus for embedding non media data in a media file, such as a video file, an audio file, and/or an audiovisual file.
During the last decade, media files have become a useful tool for storing media data and transmitting it via communication networks. The media files, which include video, audio, and/or audiovisual files are commonly used as carriers for content such as music, segments of a video recording, speech sections, gestures, visual expressions, and vocal expressions. Usually, the media files are encoded in accordance with a pre-set standard. Each standard generally specifies a protocol for encoding content such that it may be stored or transmitted, and a protocol for decoding content that has been encoded to reconstruct the content for playback. A device or a module that implements one or more of these protocols may be referred to as a coder-decoder (CODEC). The media files that comprise the encoded content, which may be stored on digital media, such as a hard disk drive or a flash memory and/or based on real time recording, are transmitted via a communications network. As both storage and network bandwidth has associated costs, the CODEC is usually designed to compress the digital representation of the content while maintaining a desired level of quality. During the compression, the media content is compressed to render it less bulky for transfer. The CODEC encodes received media signals into digital data and compresses them into frames which are then transported over the communication network. At the destination, these frames are decompressed and optionally converted to analog if needed.
For music, a number of CODECs exist, including motion picture experts group (MPEG)-1 audio layer-3 (MP3), advanced audio coding (AAC) and windows wave (WAV). Similarly, for video, the CODECs include, but are not limited to, MPEG-2, MPEG4, audio video interleave (AVI) and windows media video (WMV).
The encoding of video, audio, and/or audiovisual signals into media files allows the streaming thereof across the Internet or other network environment. Streaming media refers to audio, video, and multimedia signals, which are delivered to a user terminal via the network, and begin to play on the user terminal before delivery of the entire media file is completed. The streaming allows the user terminal to start playing a media file before it has been entirely downloaded, saving the user the wait typically associated with downloading the entire file.